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Leviticus

About this book
Chapter 17

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them, ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded, 3 “Blood guilt will be accounted to any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp, 4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people.⁠ 5 This is so that the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent—to the priest—and sacrifice them there as peace-offering sacrifices to the Lord. 6 The priest is to splash the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7 So the people must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, acting like prostitutes by going after them.⁠ This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.”’ 8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the Lord—that person will be cut off from his people. 10 “‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood,⁠ and I will cut him off from the midst of his people,⁠ 11 for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. 12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood, and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood. 13 “‘Any man from the Israelites or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst who hunts a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten must pour out its blood and cover it with soil,⁠ 14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing because the life of every living thing is its blood—all who eat it will be cut off. 15 “‘Any person who eats an animal that has died of natural causes or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a resident foreigner, must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he will be clean. 16 But if he does not wash his clothes and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for his iniquity.’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 17:13 and Ezekiel 24:7

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Leviticus requires hunters to pour out an animal’s blood and cover it with soil, stressing that blood must not remain exposed. Ezekiel alludes to this rule and applies it to Jerusalem, accusing the city of leaving human blood uncovered on bare rock.

Passages

Leviticus 17:13

Hebrew Bible
11 for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. 12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood, and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood. 13 “‘Any man from the Israelites or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst who hunts a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten must pour out its blood and cover it with soil, 14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing because the life of every living thing is its blood—all who eat it will be cut off. 15 “‘Any person who eats an animal that has died of natural causes or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a resident foreigner, must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Ezekiel 24:7

Hebrew Bible
5 Take the choice bone of the flock, heap up wood under it; boil rapidly, and boil its bones in it. 6 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot is in it, whose rot has not been removed from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. 7 For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust. 8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance, I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up. 9 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile high.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

References

"... The notion that the blood must be spilled 'on the ground' is taken for granted is further corroborated by the fact that the expression 'sapak dam', if left unqualified, implies murder (verse 4; Genesis 9:6; 37:22; Numbers 35:33; 1 Kings 2:31; Ezekiel 22:27); if it connotes licit killing, it must be followed by the preposition 'al (Deuteronomy 12:16; 1 Kings 18:28) or 'el (4:30, 34). Thus with the Hebrew and LXX, the apodosis option is preferred. The text then states that when the animal is brought down in the hunt, the hunter should see to it that all its blood is spilled on the ground and buried. This verse clearly lay before the prophet Ezekiel: 'For the blood (Jerusalem shed) is (still) in her; she set it on a bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with earth' (Ezekiel 24:7). The prophet adroitly turns the theriocidal language and context of Leviticus into homicidal accusations against his people, enabling him to invoke the penalty - inexorable divine retribution. The illicit shedding of human blood pollutes the soil (Numbers 35:33-34; Ezekiel 36:17-18) so that it refuses to yield its fruit (Genesis 4:10-12; 2 Samuel 21:1) and, ultimately, vomits out its inhabitants (Leviticus 18:28) ..."
Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 17–22: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 3A (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 1482.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Leviticus 17:13 and Ezekiel 24:7

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